I know I need to choose a career path soon, but I don’t know what to choose. I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t want to work a desk job but I don’t want to work a blue collar job either. Any suggestions.
I have worked in Law Enforcement, I was a night Auditor, a Hotel Manager, I was a Cook in a Nursing Home, and I worked for the city of PSL. Then I ended up being called into the Ministry. I just felt that there had to be more to life than working hard (for someone else) just to make money to give away to someone else in the form of bills. Is this life?
And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15
Following this, Jesus calls the Rich man a fool and says, today you will die, whose possessions with these did you acquire? Maybe try to get a paid position in a church or a Christian Organization. It has been the best decision I have ever made.
Peter
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Work as a temp or even a day laborer. Exposure to different jobs might give you a feel for what might satisfy. Consider jobs where you can help others, this also can be a source of satisfaction.
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If you have only one job offer, then the decision has already been made for you. If there are more than one, maybe you’ll take the one that appeals to you most. However, consider the financial ramifications of your decision. You do want a good paycheck. You’ll want to be saving money so that when you get old, you won’t run out of money.
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@Josiah I’m 60 years old and still have no idea who I want to be when I grow up lol. I’m still working, and hard but I’m thankful I can! I have no idea what to choose moving forward, and also have no idea what I want to do, other than serve the Lord. Ministry has been placed on my heart, but not the kind of ministry I envisioned, and I’m working toward that every day. If you desire to serve the Lord then serve Him. Obey Him and He will make your path straight. I’m late to the game, but He’s definitely making ways for me..and making my path straight. So, for now, just trust Him and be happy in whatever you do. Serve.
It’s humbling to serve others, which is what I do. I’m a housekeeper. Not the job I was hoping for in my 60’s, but it’s also my little business and in it I get to serve others. Truly serve. That means that when I go in their home that I don’t judge the mess, or the clients, or anything. I humbly serve. I clean up after them, and then ask if I can help in any other way, rather than just trying to get the heck out when I’m done. Today, I served a man in his 40’s, who is disabled by weight, and very poor health associated with his weight. I almost judged him..I was so close to making a judgement based on what I saw as I was cleaning his home..but then I looked at him..and saw how God sees him, and all I wanted to do was help him in any way I could. Same thing happened at my next clean. All I could feel for the clients was compassion. All I wanted to do was help them. I will definitely be carrying this with me tomorrow as I go out to serve others again.
I’m going for my TEFL so that I can teach online, and in foreign countries. I won’t make a lot of money doing this but I will be able to go to countries as a missionary, which is what I really want to do, and support myself and help others while teaching English. Will this happen? I have no idea but I’m going for it anyway and trusting in God.
Let something like that be your compass. Let God be your compass.
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The book What Color is Your Parachute helped me to clarify my vocation back in my late 20’s. It’s a series of exercises that help you discern your design. What specific task has God made you for? What gives you delight as you do it, and provides lasting value for your neighbor?
I was conditioned by the popular literature of my youth to assume that all really committed Christians found their way into some form of formal “full-time ministry.” Since God has not equipped me with the gifts and graces to succeed in such vocations, I ended up with a five-year blank space at the beginning of my resume, thoroughly burned out and disillusioned. It took me decades to overcome the bitterness of that adventure.
Then, thanks to the Parachute book, I discovered my first calling as a technical writer. You know, the guy who writes the books no one wants to read!
Many years later, when my character had caught up with my giftedness, God called me to pursue the scholar’s trade. My dissertation was a technical manual with the modest title How to Mend a Broken World. For the third half of my adult life, I teach as an adjunct professor online and on site. I feel God’s pleasure upon me as I instruct those “skulls full of mush” (IYKYK) and provide value for week after week.
At this point, I’m seeking God for a full-time position. Prayers appreciated!
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Whatever you choose, remember these two things. Even a bad business is better than a good Job. The other things is, whatever you choose, will you still be working if the economy dies? Blue collar jobs will give you that. Look towards the future.
People stop spending money on upgrades when the economy tanks. They start patching things up instead. So if you can fix stuff, you remain working.
And def pray about it.
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May I suggest that you get a notebook and this Sunday after or before the service, go round the church asking each man what his job is?
What he thought was good about it and what he thought was bad?
Ask about what is evolved in working at a desk? What a ’ normal ’ day would be like?
Check out salaries, qualifications needed and were those jobs are.
Then take a hard look at your own education, your abilities in education and start planning.
It’s no good deciding to be a doctor or engineer, or software/computer engineer if you can’t do Maths or science.
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@Dr_S that was so helpful! I had forgotten about the Parachute!
@Josiah, how much have you prayed about your decision? Persistent prayer for God’s direction and guidance instead of making your own decision is the wise, biblical way. He will help you assess your gifts that he gave you and help you narrow down your choices to the area of life he wants you in.
I was an English teacher and then a sales manager running away, like Jonah, from God’s call to preach the gospel. Then, God renewed his call, when I had a wife and three children, and sent me into church ministry for 27 years. Finally, he guided me into retirement to write Christian books.
If you’re interested in God’s guidance in my life, you can check out my book What God Has Done: My True, Dramatic God-Biography (Amazon).